Cowon A3-60SL 60GB Portable Media Player (Silver)

There were problems inputting movies through the AV inputs. I had to reset it once to get it to work. Now, after uploading some music files I came back later to find a hot unit and white screen with the USB connection lost. When I disconnected from the USB it quit and nothing brings it to life again: whether I used the on/off button, reset, reconnection to USB (assuming the battery to be dead). This particular unit does not live up to the advertised functionality (AV analog movie making - the connection was erratic interfering with the signal input.) The unit is great when it works - music especially, but the instability resulting in this totally failing unit mars the overall reputation of the A3.

First off,
I think this is the best product out on the market. It does everything. Instead of buying a downloaded movie file, I can just hook up my DVD player into my Cowon A3 and just record my favorite movie just like that.

Some say that it is hard to organize the files but I don't think so. What I do because I listen to Gospel and hip hop, I created to sub folders inside of the music file (Gospel & hip Hop & R&B) and copy my music files by Artist name then Album and then Track. It's easy for me to sort out the file because its automatic uploaded in Alphabetical order.
And if I just want to listen to the songs from one folder, I can too.

The Bad:
Is that Tech. problems seems to find itself out of nowhere. After I recorded a video it played back the movie and then shut down and wouldn't come back on. I tried charging it but then my screen when white and didn't cut off. I contact Cowon and they didn't know the issue and told me to send it in, but I sent it back to Amazon for a replacement for free. Amazon was quick with their responses and shipped a new item for free.

Overall I love this machine so much! And if unidentified problems didn't occur, this item could have easily have been a 5star. Great Picture and Sound As well!

I have been thoroughly disappointed with their products and lack of customer service. They average about 2-3 weeks to return an email for customer service issues. I finally got through to a representative and was advised to send the product back to them, at my own expense and they emailed back about 1 month later stating that there is no problem with the item. When I emailed back with a detailed description of the specific situation I encountered (item stopped powering on or charging through the USB port) they ceased communication. I still haven't heard back from them, but will never buy their products ever again. They are terrible both at manufacturing and caring for their customers.

I was excited to receive my Cowon A3. I immediately updated the firm ware from the web site. The screen then went white and would not respond to any commands or resets. I contacted Cowon tech support. They could not figure out the problem after several emails and asked me to send it in to Cowon for repair. It appeared to be DOA. I sent the unit back to Amazon instead for a refund. I took a chance and ordered another one. After one use it seems to be fine. Time will tell. Great specifications.

This is a truly stunning device.

I have spent the last 4 days loading it with media files, including divx dvd rips, F1 & MotoGP races in xvid format, and a dozen .flac albums and have been blown away by the playback in every case. Aside from an audio de-synch issue that seems to be related to animation files, the performance has been flawless. This may be the ultimate traveling companion.

If you have reasonably moderate skill with portable tech (even though loading files is an easy copy & paste the user should have some knowledge of file structure to get the media into the correct folders) and any appreciable collection of video & audio files, this is the player to get. Battery life so far has performed as advertised, which is to say ~6 hours for video playback.

I am not sure I understand some of the comments here about a proprietary USB connector - it is not - but the transfer rate is on the slow side.

Bottom line: if you're on the fence, buy it.